Monday, April 19, 2004

Another Fire, Another Pail

I've posted some things re Yassin and the good times, went to sleep feeling good that I've set the train on rails outgoing to uncharted lands, and woke up to see that trains of thought have taken some people back to their pre-set destinations.



Since Al, my dear friend and colleague here introduced me as "one such person", it might be a good idea to do the introduction here myself, loud and clear.



Especially so since Al chose to cover with some veils my cherished and not that easily gained identity.



Prepare some champaign (don't break it on my nose, it's not polite) and follow/don't follow me to the unveiling ritual:



My name is Corinna. First person, singular.



I am an Israeli Hebrew writer. By genes and choice it means also that most of the time, when writing and in my dreams as well, I am a prolific listener.



I'm atheist since age nine, if not earlier. By which I mean that I took upon myself the responsibility of listening to my own moral ethics, mine and not the cricket's (unlike Pinochio).



I am an Israeli as naturally as I breath, and from the first moment I was born far away from my birth rights back in 2nd WW Romania. Which means that I have thrice a good memory - the writer's, the atheist's, Zion's.



Believe me, it's often heavy, as I have no right to say, ME, ME, ME and close my five senses to reality or to The Other's suffering.



1.

I love and am grateful for living in a time in which I can have a passport and a place to call and experience as home sweet home.



2.

I can appreciate it even more thanks to my childhood which lasted less than four years, owing to thriving racism of some of our best friends and boyfriends.



3.

By mistake, I was given the right to vote.



Sorry for that, sweet Mr. Ripper. Please keep your voice down, otherwise our democracy might rightfully suggest we shouldn't have elections as long as we are under terror, or find me and the not that silent majority, Unfit.



I find your arguments most power-full. Can you imagine how much more persuasive and well listened to those could have been - if only were they expressed in civilized, respectful, rhetoric?



Actually I would like to get to know you better (not right away, wait a bit to sort your feelings before expressing them). Who are you? Identity, vote rights notwithstanding, profession and vocation? I'm sure your personality is not that one-dimensional. Courage!



4.

I've been living in Israel since July 7, 1948 - the day we were freed from the British detention camps for "illegal" immigrants, in Cyprus and set right away in Jaffa. Hence, I happen to have some in-depth knowledge unseen from far away.



The killings are not a sane, life-enhancing solution. The idea that there is no choice but to go down into this abyss might not be a rational one, but one fed by extremist "political" manipulations. It has not worked up to now here as we happen to be cousins and share the same similarities of character, between us and with you as well. We are all human, and no matter what religion or misinformations we have been fed - we all, when left alone, will chose life and sanity upon death and self/mass destruction.



Can you paradoxically declare all or the majority of Palestinians/Israelis as, to say the least, unworthy of your empathy and respect because They/One of them, to say the least, do not show empathy and respect to each other?



Is the Israeli Palestinian conflict some kind of game where you have to choose the team you'll cheer to and the one you'll spit upon?



I do appreciate the huge amounts of empathy and caring, either for my people or for the Palestinians. But why hold on to your identifications and not share them one with the other. Think of this: How different the world and our reality might become when you let your empathies encompass both the Israeli and the Palestinian.



It's not a game, we are not two football teams let loose but regular people yearning for peace and sanity, as most of us on this planet.



Since we are not about to resolve peacefully the Middle East conflict to-night, let's experiment with reaching such a noble goal at Planet Blogcritics, for the time being.



So, what team are you on?

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